BFG T/A KO2 in 275/55/20 on LR4

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Adventurer

I swear I saw a thread referring to this size and tire and now I can't find it. Did a few different searches and still can't find it.

Perhaps calling it out in a separate thread we can figure this out.

I have an LR4 and plan to buy some RRS 20" rims on the cheap just to run these tires. I will keep my 19's for daily. Now the question is....Do these fit on the vehicle and in the spare tire area.

I did try to do some homework already...

The diameter of a 275/55/20 is 31.9...a friend who had 275/65/18 BFG on his LR3 (32.1" diameter) had to deflate the tire and it was a pain but did fit. I've read that 285/50/20 fit with no rubbing, but now the question for me is...so these 275/55/20's fit without rubbing the suspension? and if so, in what scenarios? If my suspension goes to the bump stops will it rub then? Will it only work with a permanent lift?

Adventurer

Hey, I just did a similar thing to my LR3. I went with 285/50/20 with my 20" RRS rims. I did need to install .75" spacers in order to clear the upper control arm.
Prior to my move to 20's, I had 285/65/18s (32.6"), which yes, required that the spare be deflated and forced up into the spare tire well via jack.

A couple notes from my setups:
-You should run a full time time lift.
-If your suspension fails completely to the bump stops (rare) you will be immobile unless you get the new airbag spacer product from Proud Rhino / Lucky8.
-The 9.5" wide RRS rim (up from the 8" wide LR3 stock wheels) required that I install spacers to clear. With the different hubs/calipers/roaters on the LR4, I'm not sure that this will be a requirement for you.
-When I had the 32.6" rims, the only rubbing I had was on the drivers side fender liner near the frame and in the rear tire wells on the pinch weld. A little trimming of the plastic and zip ties to move the height sensor wires resolved this rub.
-With the new 20" wheels, despite my overall diameter being just 31.2", I have a new rub on the passenger side on the very front side of the fender liner. I believe this is because of the increased swing radius created by the .75" spacers. I Plan to screw some aluminum backing to the fender liner where the rub is happening and then adding a little concave bend to create clearance. If you can get away with the new wheels without spacers, you probably won't have this issue.

Here's the 20s:

And my old 18s:

Let me know if I can answer anything else. A lot of people in this forum will respond like A-holes when you bring up 20s.

I correctly assumed that if they had such a small diameter 20" version, they might also have 32-33" 18" versions, which they do!

Ok, LR3/4 people, rejoice. An MT that will fit finally!!!

They have E load 275/65x18" !!! This should measure to about 32" which will pop right on any lr3/4 with the front wheel arch frame, cable relocation and rear fender liners mods. No "rods" needed!

For me I plan to try the 3" version which is narrower than the 305/60x18 BFG KM2 I am also considering to go on with the spacers.

Personally, I think the 20" wheels that come on the lr4 are fine for highway trips and gravel forest roads, especially when upsized a bit, but they can also be repurposed into a stricktly winter tire in the narrowest shape available, then putting an 18" on with spacers or compo wheels and more aggressive tire.

Explorer

Talk to me about how you like the Toyo, especially in the rocks vs on the highway. (not much mud where I am, but plenty of rocks and occasionally everything else)I'm looking at it as an option to replace my Duratracs, though I plan to go to a 275/70-18 (33").

Observer

Adventurer

I have BFG at/ko2s 265/65/18's with 2.5" Johnson Rods. I have about 6k on them including some off road miles. Truck definitely handles differently but I like the 3.25" increase to stock tires. Road noise is neglible, it's a land rover and well insulated.

Explorer

I have BFG at/ko2s 265/65/18's with 2.5" Johnson Rods. I have about 6k on them including some off road miles. Truck definitely handles differently but I like the 3.25" increase to stock tires. Road noise is neglible, it's a land rover and well insulated.

It handles "differently" because you are using the vehicle at a height for which it was not designed to be driven during highway speeds. That tire size make little difference in the handling. It's running those rods all the time that is the problem as well as a reduction in safety.

Explorer

It handles "differently" because you are using the vehicle at a height for which it was not designed to be driven during highway speeds. That tire size make little difference in the handling. It's running those rods all the time that is the problem as well as a reduction in safety.

Explorer

Well, when you can easily raise and lower on the fly, it's easy to get spoiled, but I didn't like the idea of the rods since they first came onto the scene. I made some and tried the height and found that I could actually get the same height, if seriously needed, simply by inducing the "extra" lift mode.

Riding higher, pulls inward the track making it narrower and thus two factors instantly reduce the handling and safety. On top of that pretty much nobody bothers with these unless they are also running larger tires, a 3rd factor. Ad to that most people doing this have an at least slightly heavier set up, 4th factor.

The 5th is that with stock control arms, the geometry is best when in the lower/flatter position for handling at highway speeds. Raise it up and the dynamics change dramatically even though it only seems like a couple inches. Some people prefer to spend $200 to force themselves to get out twice an outing to fumble around, possibly in lovely muddy wheels, to change the rods to short vs long. I chose to spend just $200 more to never have to do that and to also have a useful tool. The IIDtool by GAP. Getting hooked on the ability to control height through leads one to get a LLAMS or the similar system Mudtech offers.

New member

Here's my take on the tires, height and safety. Running 285x55x20 TA KO's.
I run a rod mod. The mod increases the air in the strut which stiffens the ride slightly which I feel compensates for the 2 1/2 inch lift. As stated I run 20's which are E rated which both make for less sidewall roll which also compensates for the 2 1/2 inch lift. Is there a reduction in safety? I'm anal, I took that into consideration that's why I run the combination I do. A reduction in safety? I don't think you could calculate it. You still have tire tread and compound, road surface, weather, speed, and mental drivers. I think any weight on your roof in a rack, without stiffing the suspension or larger sway bars is a reduction in ride safety. But Land Rover put a rack on top considering people are in general smart enough to change their driving habits after making the first turn. My LR is a heavy pig, so it’s hard to speedway race. But, I bet it will fare extremely well by design in a rollover. But I love it. Comfortable to drive for hours on the road and I can still enjoy a couple of hours of good technical offroading when I arrive. Sorry, bigger tires, sitting up higher all the time, I like the look, and I like personalizing the look of my ride (again my take on it). I have close to 40000 mile on a lifted and aligned (lifted) LR3. I've been watching my drive train components for years to write a thread on all the wear with the lift compared to a stock LR guy I know. Do I have to wait for 300,000 miles to see that wear? I think mine looks better for wear underneath right now and I probably wouldn't care in 300,000. Oh yes, I do carry a computer to hack the suspension. I also have my own emergency bump stops for the front so I can steer if the suspension should do the dreaded fail thing. Never seen it or know anyone to have it. But, I have had compressor failure via getting old, which after a hack reset; it coughed and sputtered enough to air back up for the 5 hour drive home. Once you hear it not pumping smoothly don't lower it down for the wife to get out, and surly don't test it, that’s what you will want to do. Wait until you're home because it might not want to go back up. I have also had line failure. I know you can find that branch; it’s the one with sonar for plastic lines. Take repair parts. I have only read about the dreaded failure happening to two people. As for tire size and rubbing NWoods web page, Johnson Rods page. My take on it, choose what look you want. I think we worry too much about making changes, especially 2 ½ inches. Drive that beast and enjoy.

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Explorer

Yes, it is in fact, less safe. Simply put, higher is less stable than stock without a rebuilt suspension design.

Raising the struts some doesn't improve the handling. In fact, reducing the engineered suspension movement, worsens the situation even though it may feel better. That effect is misleading though because in reality, you've removed downward suspension travel, which is also less safe because the vehicle cannot react the same way to changing surfaces.

It's like putting overly stiff sway bars on a touring car, but going too far with it, which reduces the ability of the suspension to adapt to uneven surfaces. This in turn starts to put more ground pressure on some tires and less on others, less equal overall, resulting in less actual traction per tire. In situations like rain or loose materials this can translate into a ball of fun...

Yours looks very cool, no doubt about that. Nevertheless, you have absolutely made it less "safe" by reducing traction and suspension function to properly handle the mass of the vehicle in changing situations.

Now, lowering, actually can improve cornering stability by lowering the center of gravity and increasing camber for the dynamics that occur in a corner. Raising the vehicle moves further away from this as well. Vehicles need down travel in the suspension for dealing with drops in pavement. I'd love to have you ride along in mine cornering mountain roads in -20mm mode (20mm below standard ride height), then do the same section in yours at what, +62mm over standard?! You might buy yourself a kit and dump the rods...

I don't really care about what will or won't wear out sooner or later because all the crap will wear out sooner than I want it to anyway. I'm also not going to debate about the need for more lift, because I have done whatever I can to gain as much lift available as possible. Running it all the time though, and especially on highway trips, is completely unnecessary and factually less safe.

BFG does not currently show an E load 285/55x20 Ko (1) nor does Tire Rack or the rest of the web. Sure yours are E? Currently there do not appear to be any E load BFG AT Ko in old or new version that will fit lr4, only D.